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Click on photos to enlarge. Grant Park is at the lower right.
Chicago, IL.—At least some city officials have grave concerns about the plans for a huge celebration for Barack Obama at Chicago’s Grant Park. All the tickets for the event have been given out and Mayor Richard M. Daley gleefully invited "a million people" to come down and celebrate.
The biggest problem is a mathematical one. The 5000 or so police officers will be gravely outnumbered and placed in danger. There is no way to keep out thousands of armed street gang members or protect the thousands of businesses. The cops will be way out manned and outgunned. Police cannot use deadly force against looters because of a 1967 Illinois law.
Some officers I talked with are expecting to become targets of the unprecedented mob that will descend into the area. Once the mob gets control of the outdoor lighting any hope of security will be lost for sure.
There would be no way to protect the Loop. How much priceless art will be lost at the Art Institute? Will the brand New CBS broadcast Center be destroyed? I know a lot of cops that would look the other way as that place is looted and trashed.
The numerous buildings of every government level that house sensitive records will be in jeopardy. Imagine gang members getting into Daley Center court offices and destroying the records associated with pending trials.
The only good idea officials seem to have is to open the bridges along the Chicago River keeping mobs from spreading to the Gold Coast. The Chicago River is a great barrier and that will control mobs moving Northbound.
It’s too late to stop what Barack Obama and his energetic supporter Richard M. Daley has set in motion. The Genie is out of the bottle.